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Dev Diary #12: Music




Creating the Age of Wonders 4 OST


This dev diary was contributed by Michiel van den Bos (@Michieldvbos), the composer of the Age of Wonders 4 soundtrack. He also composed for previous instalments in the Age of Wonders series as well as the Overlord series. His work was most recently featured in Age of Wonders: Planetfall.


Photo Credit: Michiel van den Bos

[h2]Listen to the Soundtrack Here:[/h2]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


[h2]Introduction[/h2]

In the years of composing soundtracks for Age of Wonders games, there was always something at the forefront: Traditional orchestral sounds drenched in synths, either subtly or pronounced. This has been the norm since the original when, due to its Tracker origins, options were very limited and the mixing of those two elements was a matter of necessity rather than choice.

With Age of Wonders 4 the process of finding the right 'feel' was a slightly longer one. The initial run of songs contained a lot of traditional medieval folk instruments without much processing added, resulting in a much more in-your-face sound. This was by choice at first due to the aesthetic and setting of the game but that was soon decided to become grating for the player when listening to it for too long, though a few of these songs remain on the soundtrack.

As the preliminary phase of production went along, I started to add more processing to these instruments and reintroducing synths, though at a far more subdued level than in previous entries in the series.

The result is a soundtrack that definitely feels rooted in the Age of Wonders tradition, but with a style of its own that sets it apart and fits the setting of this iteration of the game.

Where Age of Wonders 3's soundtrack was a mixture of original work and remixes or re-imaginings of the original's songs, this one is predominantly comprised of completely new material with a few winks and nods to legacy songs, though very difficult to spot.

I'm very proud of what we've come up with and I hope you enjoy listening to it and playing the game along with it as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

For those interested, these were some of the main tools in my arsenal while making this soundtrack (some omitted due to limited use):
  • Cinematic Studio Strings (Cinematic Studio Series)
  • Spitfire Symphonic Strings (Spitfire Audio)
  • Spitfire Chamber Strings (Spitfire Audio)
  • Spitfire Solo Strings (Spitfire Audio)
  • Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds (Spitfire Audio)
  • Spitfire Percussion (Spitfire Audio)
  • Albion 1/ Masse/Contemporary Drama Toolkit /British Drama Toolkit (Spitfire)
  • Cinebrass (Cinesamples)
  • Cineperc (Cinesamples)
  • Damage 2 (Heavyocity)
  • Stormdrum 2 & 3 (EastWest)
  • Omnisphere 2.5 (Spectrasonics)
  • Rinascimento (Fluffy Audio)
  • Groth (Wavelet Audio)
  • ERA II / Forest Kingdom II (Eduardo Tarilonte/Best Service)

[h2]Liner Notes (Map and Frontend Songs only)[/h2]

The Highlander (Main Title)

In stark contrast to other entries in the series, this track was written quite late in the development cycle whereas the main title songs for other games have been made early on. In this case, it fits because it's sort of the culmination of all the different styles incorporated in the map tunes. It's a laid back track that doesn't intrude too much while the player creates a character.


A Magnificent Vista

One of the earlier tracks referenced in my little writeup. A more in your face approach used in the early game. The tracks become more sprawling upon progress, but this is a nice, quite happy little song that fits the early game atmosphere.


A Settlement Rises

A breezy, easy going song in the tradition of the old March of the Halflings. A searing melody atop a bed of subtle orchestral short notes.


Darklands

Gloomy, atmospheric track with an emphasis on percussion. In pure van den Bos fashion it switches gears in the second half. I tried staying away from that for most of the soundtrack, but there are just times I can't help myself.


Dawn Sun

Another song composed in the early days of development but finished later on so it has a more sprawling feel to it. It's really quite beautiful and has no percussion at all.


Effortless Expansion

A long, mystical intro morphs into a song with a rather simple undercurrent and a lovely woodwind melody layered on top. More instruments are gradually introduced.


Fall Ascending

Totally my jam. Melancholy melodies that linger in my brain long after I'm done composing the track. One of my personal favorites.


Flourishment

Another track where the foundation dates from the early days of development but finished and touched up much later. It feels breezy and threatening at the same time with a nice crescendo building towards the end.


Mirage

Percussion heavy song that evokes an image of a large caravan making its way across the desert. After listening to it more often, it definitely ranks among my favorites for this game.


Morning Mist

Quite a heavy one conjuring a vision of lands enveloped in mist as viewed from a mountain top. This one builds subtly to a sweeping climax.


Our Work Shall Commence at Dawn

Getting up in the morning is always hard and this song evokes just that feeling, especially when you need to spend your day building roads and bridges. The second part of the song is more the labor part, whereas the intro feels like looking across vast plains in the cool morning air.


Return from Heartwood

Made in the later stages. Another one of my favorites and it subtly mixes melancholy with optimism. A very good example of how the solo instruments were processed to blend with the larger string sections.


Seizing the Day

Grandiose, expanding song that feels like the player is working towards a clear goal of domination.


Sovereignty

This one has undergone many changes since it was introduced at the beginning of the development. It's a droning, slowly building composition deeply rooted in Norwegian folk influences. It's your hero's theme song basically.


Sphere of Influence

Another folky, slowly expanding song signifying the growing reach of your rule. An earworm that definitely ranks among my favorites.


Sustained Growth

What starts out as a simple melody becomes ever grander. Dark, yet uplifting. Uneasy, yet carefree. Don't quite know how I managed it but it works. One of the more modern sounding songs on the soundtrack due to the percussion introduced in the second part.


Tales of Old

Aside from the occasional flourishes of symphonic splendor this is a very subtle song fitting most scenarios.


The Overlook

Another pretty little ditty that grows in intensity over its playtime. More precussive than most maptunes but still subtle enough to let the instruments breathe.


Tidecaster

Mystical and spacious, this has the feel of a combat track due to the fast percussion but it has been pulled back enough to let the song come into its own.


What Lies Beyond Those Hills

An early team favorite and probably my own personal favorite as well. This is one that sticks with you long after with a signature interlude that I love to incorporate in my songs if I have the opportunity to. I sometimes get some criticism for putting two songs in one, but sometimes it just works so well that I can't stop myself.


Whisper of the Gods

Just really damn pretty. Another personal favorite. A very subtle nod to two old classic are in here. It has a melody line I woke up with one morning and couldn't shake until I had laid it out in Cubase.

[h3]Stay Updated on the Latest AOW News![/h3]


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1669000/Age_of_Wonders_4/

Special Dev Diary: One Month Till Launch!



Greetings rulers, my name is FG, and I'm the Community Ambassador for Age of Wonders 4. Today we're going to talk about the special things we have planned leading up to AoW4's launch on May 2nd!

We have been floored by your feedback so far and have been deep in discussion on how we can make the wait go by faster for you. We wanted to show you something special now that we are one month ahead of the release, yet it was difficult to figure out what exactly to announce. We considered producing, as some of you suggested, the Tome of May 2nd, which would automatically make the day May 2nd, but unfortunately found that it was incompatible with our physics engine.

That was when we discovered that we had unused concept art for an eleventh form, a fact that was highlighted during the production of the previous Art Dev Diary. After discussing with game designers Bus Staffhorst and Tom Beard, we decided that having a new form would help add to the biodiversity of the various realms, and would be uniquely different from the existing elves/dwarves/toads combos.

The team worked overtime to make the feature happen, and luckily managed to achieve this in a way that we feel would both satisfy you, the players, as well as Leonardo de Sas, our company director who graciously kept us on the payroll while we sunk time into this project. Special thanks to the hard work of QA Specialist Jordi Angel, who was quoted saying, "I already have 800 hours in the game, there is nothing left I haven't seen."

Without further, allow us to present...



The Dire Penguin Form


Our design process led us back to the four core tenets of 4X games: Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate. We felt that AOW4 was too concentrated on the first three, with players becoming overly focused on what we feel are absolutely unnecessary features like tomes and customisation. When we designed the Dire Penguin form, we wanted to focus on what really made 4X games fun and worth playing.

Yes.

Extermination.

Dire Penguins have been a long-standing fan favourite type of wildlife, and through thorough player surveys, we believe that we have figured out the reason. It is none other than their unique combat appeal. After all, many of our players agree that violence is the true universal language, and no form understands this better than Dire Penguins, which are known for swarming their enemies and devouring them to the bone.

Dire Penguins are also simple and beginner-friendly. Rather than making players waste time looting Ancient Wonders for valuable gear, Dire Penguins are unable to equip any weapons at all. This was actually due to the flippers on the Dire Penguin models lacking thumbs to hold weapons. Instead, Dire Penguins will simply rush at enemies with their beaks, and a blood spray animation will play as flailing AI are rapidly devoured by relentless penguins.

We also saw some players complain that they are suffering from decision paralysis after being presented with too many options. This is why we decided that Dire Penguins will be by default evil-aligned. This cannot be changed. Due to their evil nature, Diplomacy options are not available to Dire Penguin rulers. Instead, we plan to release a multiplayer feature where Dire Penguin rulers can meet other Dire Penguin rulers via an online cafe called Club Dire.

[h2]Conclusion[/h2]

We hope this update has given you a clearer insight into our design process and how we want to take the Age of Wonders franchise moving forward. We can't wait to see your Dire Penguin rulers in action, tearing apart their enemies with unrepentant violence. Now if you'll excuse me, it is Saturday, so I'm technically not supposed to be here...

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH

Wait, what is that thing crawling out of Jordi's overheating PC—

RUN















Happy April 1st! Great things are actually coming soon that aren't photoshopped penguins.

AMA with the Devs Today!

Update 2: It is 5.30pm CET and thus the end of the AMA. We will now be going offline! Thank you so much for the response, we are thoroughly overwhelmed (and that's a good thing!) We answered 100 questions in total: an amazing feat for the dev team!

You may still leave your questions until 7pm CET. We will gather unanswered questions and put them in an upcoming FAQ (but we will no longer be responding personally in the comments). We highly encourage you to check if your question was already answered!

Update 1:

It's time for the AMA! 💬

Leave your questions in this Reddit thread and our dev team will do their best to answer them!

Feel free to ask what's on your mind, even if it isn't very game related! 😉


Original Announcement:

Mark your calendars! 📅

The team behind Age of Wonders 4 will be having an Ask Me Anything (AMA) next Friday!

Come to r/AOW4 with your questions between 9am to 5pm CET 💬

And if you haven't checked out our amazing subreddit yet, don't wait! https://reddit.com/r/AOW4/



Want to check out our other channels?

Dev Diary #11: The Art of Age of Wonders 4



Greetings travellers, Art Director Rich here, join me by the campfire as I share a brief glimpse into what the artisans of Triumph have been crafting as I touch upon 3 main topics;
  • Your Creations (Creativity & Evolution)
  • Your Realms (The setting, World & Combat Maps)
  • Your Inhabitants (Wildlife)

Everything you see in this Dev Diary has been created by a small core group of around 9 artists; 1 animator, 2 environment artists, 2 character artists, 3 2D artists, 1 tech artist, and 1 PFX Artist with over 3.5 years of development. We hope you enjoy the toolbox we have made for you, and as a treat we’ve attached some downloadable Wallpapers at the end!

Your Creations


[h2]Let your creativity loose[/h2]

You are the core of Age of Wonders 4 as we give you the tools to create your own original fantasy races. This is key, and a truly unique feature; Stellaris does it to an extent with their 2D portraits, however we challenged ourselves to have a fully 3D customizable unit lineup, not just your leader but your race, and on top of that to enhance and transform them through the game. When this was first pitched it was considered high risk and a bit crazy, we weren't even sure it was possible! With lots of prototyping and tech I’m happy to say we are proud of what we achieved, and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it! You are handed different visual ingredients to mix and match to arrive at something fresh, or recreate your favourite characters from popular media with friends by making your own multiplayer fellowship.

We spent a lot of time on making interesting character components; pieces that would fit together well to tell a story, as well as pushing the visual distinction and fidelity - we didn’t want Dwarves to be just scaled down humans, but really push their proportions with bigger noses and exaggerated features and slight expressions.The texturing is painterly, colourful and gritty without being too cartoony. This stylized realism creates an almost caricature-like effect that helps them come to life. You can play as a standard fantasy race like High Elves with golden armour and unicorns, or try your hand at some really fun combinations, and more importantly, evolutions! Your starting race can be very different from your ending race as you unlock Enchantments, Transformations and gain access to new racial and monstrous units…

With 10 starting Forms, 6 Cultures and Wizard Kings, there are an incredible number of customization options; hair and beard styles, helmets, tattoos, scars, mount types and colours to pick from. These are a few screenshots from in-game showing off the huge variety of leaders you can create.. We can’t wait for you to unleash your creativity and see what you make!



Leader helmet customization concept art -



Form is the first ingredient that can combine with Culture to create something visually new. Here we can see how the Culture outfit proportions change to match your Form, we utilise bone and rig scaling tech to achieve this along with giving customization options to adjust their sizes like leg and arm length or physique.



Mixing up cultures can create some really fun combinations, below we have a typical Industrious Dwarf, but why not mix it up with a Mystic Dwarf, or perhaps something completely different? Create Industrious Rats or High Orcs, Culture is the ingredient that when combined with form can bring fresh originality to old tropes. Let your imagination run wild, what’s the fantasy you want to create?



Barbarian Unit Concept Art -



[h2]Evolution[/h2]

But Form and Culture are just the beginning of your journey, things really start to become interesting when we evolve our factions using magical Tomes. Throughout the game applying enchantments and transformations can change how our units and leaders look and play. You can twist and morph them into something… more. Enchantments and Evolutions stack and combine visually with PFX, skin decorations, colours, and additional meshes like ice shards.

Each Tome is fully illustrated to communicate the associate Affinity and contents -



Below we can see if we follow the Tome path of Chaos we gain access to magics that give us fire weapons, and demonic visuals. Granting our units black armour, goat legs and demonic horns with glowing eyes and wings -



Or here we can take 2 affinity paths mixing visuals from both to get frost weapons, steel skin and golden armour, and ultimately create a goldtouched undead wightborn race. These enchantments and Transformations apply to all Forms and all Cultures as well as leaders. You can apply different transformations to the different races you have conquered. You can also come into contact with thematic Free Cities that have these visuals already applied allowing for rich and interesting stories to emerge. What stories do you want to tell, how will you evolve your race?



Further customization continues in-game by looting mythical weapons and equipment like magical rings, armours and mounts. Below we see a level 15 leader leaning into the undead Shadow Affinity direction, not only through Transformations but also through Hero Skills unlocking powerful combat abilities. We also added an Adjust Appearance button to the Panels so you can always change your looks to fit the thematics of your loot, or adjust a Heroes appearance to suit a particular story you want to live.



Weapon Concept Art -



Your Realms


[h2]The Setting[/h2]

Following the cataclysm of AoW3, Age of Wonders 4 gave us the opportunity for a fresh start, we wanted to present a vibrant welcoming fantasy world that you want to spend time in. A new age of realms and characters of your own design. Because of this we shifted the main colour palettes to spring hues, playing up the greens and blue mists as we leaned into the magic and creation aspect of the game.



[h2]The World[/h2]

The Romanticism paintings of the 1800’s inspired the world map look, a gritty but vibrant surface littered with Ancient Wonders, the scale of mountains enhanced by moving pools of light. We pushed greater heights with rolling hills, a new cliff system and epic mountain peaks peeking through distant mists. Motion would come to play a big part of making it all come to life, whether it be leaves falling from trees, or bats flying above an Underground entrance, those small details make the world feel alive creating an inviting and intimate atmosphere, drawing you in for a closer look. Our in-house Creator Engine got some new tech upgrades, this meant we could explore the Fog of War look with volumetric lighting, creating a beautiful mist that invites you to explore.



A living world -



Expand and grow your cities, build Wizard Towers and choose your cities path via Special Province Improvements, each Province Improvement has bespoke 3D Art like the Research Post and Resonance Field. Below is an example of an early game Tier I vs. late game Tier IV Feudal city, growing in scale and power -



Create your own realms with Realm Traits, pick a world visual or mod-in your own, or enter your customised ruler into the Story Realms as you become part of the world's unfolding legend. Below we peer through the realm void as the artworks complement the voiced story intro and outros -



[h2]Readability[/h2]

Gameplay is king, so gameart must enhance gameplay. We learned a lot from Planetfall and took those learning into Age of Wonders 4, not just the world map, but across the board with units and user interface. We want the game to be easy to read, have units stand out, have clear iconography and user interface, all whilst delivering visuals that immerse and keep you engaged. Readability is paramount, so we addressed that at its foundation. Here we can see the differences between Planetfall, which has washed out muddy visuals, even the interface falls away, it’s hard to see the differences between forests and roads. Compare that to Age of Wonders 4 where each element has a clear black and white grouping, it’s calmer on the eye and the interface really pops -



[h2]Combat Maps[/h2]

Every hex tile and location on the World Map has its own Tactical Map. Some like the Ancient Wonders are more dungeon-like with bespoke lighting, others such as forests and gold nodes take on the mood of that biome, whether it be in the Arctic or Tropics.

Below are screenshots of the same Gold Node Tactical Map but as they appear within the different biomes. The system adds thematic pfx to each biome, snow in the arctic, butterflies in the mediterranean and sands blowing in the wind in deserts. The tactical maps also swaps out vegetation, what might be a dead tree in the desolate biome, is a giant mushroom in the underground. Additionally map hazards also change, a Clover hex giving a boon of luck in the Temperate biome, might be a patch of poisonous plants in the Tropics. This ensures that each time you play, even if it’s the same location that we can have very different moods and experiences -



A closer look at map dressing and moods -



Here is some environment Concept Art, each culture has its own building set style, in certain biomes the houses will even show signs of that biome, such as snow on the roof -



Your Inhabitants


[h2]Wildlife[/h2]

The realms are populated by all sorts of creatures, from the smallest Fairy and Worm to the largest Giant and Dragon. Using Realm traits you can set the type of wildlife you will encounter, whether it be a realm of Rampant Undeath inhabited with Bone Golems and Skeletons, or with Astral Invaders, magical creatures from the Astral Sea. You can come across heroes with special traits that allow you to recruit monsters like the Ogres. Alternatively complete an Ancient Wonder map location to gain the ability to recruit special monsters from that site via the Rally of the Lieges mechanic.

Here’s some concept art of beautiful monsters. Internally we called these Ogres ‘Gordon and Ramsey’ -



Concept art of some friendly Trolls -



Here’s a sneak peek at some unit .gifs showing the animations and posing from out in-game Encyclopaedia, here you can view all units in the game and even apply Enchantments and Transformations to any Culture and Form combination to see their effects, as well as read up on lore and gameplay concepts -



I’ve put together this fantastic overview showing off a few community creations that we’ve seen come by. Beautiful and clever Tome books and Illustrations of the Dev Stream stories that unfolded like the Drowned Toads. As well as ideas for Units and DLC cultures! Really cool stuff guys, we can’t wait to see what the Modding community will add as well! :)



Thank you for your time, we really hope you enjoy the fantasy toolbox we’ve made for you and can’t wait to see your creations! This is just the beginning of the Journey…to make a time go a little bit faster here’s some Wallpaper - https://paradoxinteractive.files.com/f/55041ae37bd422e2


Want to speculate about the next Dev Diary?

Mystic Elves Showcase Stream: Midgame on 30 March 2pm CET



Thank you for all your support so far! We have heard your feedback, and so...

The next developer stream will be happening tomorrow, 30 March, at 2pm CET! It will feature midgame play, as highly requested by many of you.

The stream will last about 2 hours and will pick up directly where the previous stream left off. If you missed the previous stream, the VOD is up on our YouTube channel here!

Do take note of Daylight Savings/Summer Time! If you are outside Europe, the stream will begin 1 hour earlier than usual.

Bonus: Solve this riddle to find out the topic of the next dev diary!

"I am a universal language, understood by everyone. What am I?"

Answer will be revealed upon release of the dev diary!

Catch the Stream here:

YouTube Twitch

What time is the stream for me?
  • 8am ET (US East)
  • 7am CT (US Central)
  • 6am MT (US Mountain Time)
  • 5am PT (US Pacific Time)

  • 1pm UTC (UK)
  • 3pm UTC+3 (Greece, Finland)
  • 5.30pm UTC+5:30 (India)
  • 8pm UTC+8 (Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore)
  • 9pm UTC+9 (Japan, Korea)
  • 11pm UTC +11 (Sydney, Melbourne)


Want to speculate about the stream?